The present invention relates generally to raised panel systems, and more specifically, to raised panel systems attachable to a lower portion of a wall along a flight of stairs.
Conventional decorative raised panel systems are installed over a horizontally-extending, lower portion of an interior partition or wall of a room. Typically, raised panel systems include an upper rail, a lower rail, and a plurality of alternating rectangularly-shaped panels and sites.
Oftentimes, it is desirable to install raised panels along the lower portion of a wall along a flight of stairs. Typically, each flight of stairs has a specific slope or rise to run ratio which requires that the raised panels and stiles be custom made. For example, after the stairway is built, a carpenter initially obtains measurements of the rise and run of the flight of stairs to determine the exact slope or angle of the flight of stairs. The carpenter then fabricates custom-sized parallelogram-shaped raised panels and stiles matching the angle of the flight of stairs. The custom-sized parallelogram-shaped raised panels have an outer frame having a constant cross-section along the sides, i.e., top, bottom, and opposite vertical sides. Drawbacks with this approach for installing raised panels to the lower portion of a wall along a flight of stairs is that the fabrication of custom-sized raised panels and stiles is complicated, time consuming, and requires highly skilled carpenters.
Therefore, there is a need for raised panels and raised panel systems which can be installed along flights of stairs having differing rises and runs or slopes.
The present invention provides, in a first aspect, an adjustably sizeable raised panel attachable to a wall along a flight of stairs in which the adjustably sizeable raised panel includes a parallelogram-shaped member having a pair of vertically-extending sides and generally parallel angled top and bottom sides. The parallelogram-shaped member has an outer frame having a relieved portion and a peripherally-extending portion. The peripherally-extending portion of the pair of vertically-extending sides has a first length and the peripherally-extending portion of the top and the bottom sides has a second length which is greater than the first length. Desirably, the relieved portion of the adjustably sizeable raised panel is disposed on an angle between about 37 degrees and about 41 degrees from horizontal.
In a second aspect, an adjustably sizeable raised panel system kit includes a plurality of the above-mentioned adjustably sizeable raised panels, and desirably a plurality of stiles, a top rail, and a bottom rail.
In a third aspect, a raised panel system includes a plurality of spaced-apart adjustably sizeable raised panels disposed on a lower portion of a wall along a flight of stairs having a slope. The plurality of raised panels includes a parallelogram-shaped member having a pair of vertically-extending sides and generally parallel angled top and bottom sides. The parallelogram-shaped member has an outer frame having a relieved portion and a peripherally-extending portion, and the relieved portions of the top and the bottom sides are disposed at an angle from horizontal which may be different from the slope of the flight of stairs.
In a fourth aspect, a method for decorating a wall of a flight of stairs having a rise and run defining slope of the stairs includes providing a plurality of the above-mentioned adjustably sizable raised panels, determining the slope of the stairs, trimming a top edge and a bottom edge of the plurality of the raised panels to correspond to the slope of the stairs, and attaching the plurality of trimmed adjustably sizable raised panels to the lower portion of the wall of the flight of stairs.
In a fifth aspect, a method for forming an adjustably sizeable raised panel attachable to a wall along a flight of stairs includes providing a parallelogram-shaped member having a pair of vertically-extending sides and generally parallel angled top and a bottom sides, and providing an outer frame having a relieved portion and a peripherally-extending portion. The peripherally-extending portion along the pair of vertically-extending sides has a first length and the peripherally-extending portion along the top and the bottom sides has a second length, which is greater than the first length.